Role of ifng methylation in inflammatory bowel disease

A method of diagnosing inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in an individual, comprising:

• (a) obtaining a sample from an individual;
• (b) assaying the sample to determine the presence or absence of at least one risk genetic variant at the genetic locus of IFNG;
• (c) assaying the sample to determine an increase or decrease in IFNG DNA methylation relative to a healthy subject;
• and
• (d) diagnosing IBD in the individual based on the presence of at least one risk genetic variant at the genetic locus of IFNG and an increase in IFNG DNA methylation relative to a healthy subject.

A method of treating inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in an individual, comprising:

• (a) obtaining a sample from an individual;
• (b) assaying the sample to determine the presence of at least one risk genetic variant at the genetic locus of IFNG;
• (c) assaying the sample to determine an aberrant level of IFNG DNA methylation;
• and
• (d) treating the IBD in the individual.

A method of treating an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in an individual, comprising:

• (a) obtaining a sample from the individual;
• (b) assaying the sample to detect the presence or absence of at least one risk genetic variant at the genetic locus of IFNG, and/or assaying the sample to detect an increase or decrease in IFNG DNA methylation relative to a healthy individual;
• and
• (c) treating the IBD in the individual.

A method of treating an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in an individual, comprising:

• (a) obtaining a sample from the individual;
• (b) contacting the sample with an oligonucleotide probe specific to a risk genetic variant at the genetic locus of IFNG;
• (c) forming an allele-specific hybridization complex between the oligonucleotide probe and the risk genetic variant;
• (d) detecting the allele-specific hybridization complex;
• and
• (e) if the allele-specific hybridization complex is detected, conducting colectomy on the individual, and if the allele-specific hybridization complex is not detected, administering a TNF signaling inhibitor to the individual.